₦airaland Forum

@Kay-Dee,

If you really want to implement the “No Child Left Behind” NCLB act and put more people in school, then you most definitely have to spend more money, that is simple logic.
“… I’ll tell you what’s wrong with No Child Left Behind,” President-elect Barack Obama said in a speech in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2007. “Promising high-quality teachers in every classroom and then leaving the support and the pay for those teachers behind is wrong. Labeling a school and its students as failures one day and then throwing your hands up and walking away from them the next is wrong.”

I have told you to stop taking the words of these guys as Gospel. Obama and people like him are just as corrupt and deceitful as anyone in their shoes. I am personally against the "No Child Left Behind" policy because it gets the federal govt involved in what should be a local issue. While the spirit behind the idea is right in trying to measure result and tie it to funding, I still think it can best be done some other way. That is a different matter though.

Anyway, money is not always the answer to the problem, especially when you have to borrow the money to spend on a program that keeps yielding a negative return. I send my kids to a private school where they will get a better education than the public school. What is very curious to me is that the fees I pay is less than what the govt pays per pupil in public schools. As at 2008 for instance, the average cost per pupil in public elementary-secondary school system in Minnesota is roughly $10,000 - http://www2.census.gov/govs/school/08f33pub.pdf. I pay about $7,500 for each of my child to go to a private school. If the govt can just hand over 70% of what they spend to parents in the form of vouchers, our schools will be better off as there will be competition for those dollars. Private schools will do better in educating the kids and parents will have a greater say in where their kids go rather than be forced to attend the one closest to them as currently obtains. This is just one of the sensible reforms that can be employed while saving the tax payers loads of money.

I see you watch a lot of foxnews, lol. Those guys are . . . . . . .

I don't watch a lot of foxnews. I just watched the debate on the channel. By the way, have they misrepresented the exchange?

I was watching the LIVE debate when Sen. Santorum answered that question and I was wondering if Obama just told some people to quit their jobs and start depending on welfare. People have an immediate need to survive (blame it on the reccession and slow recovery) and the food stamps' program serves to provide for them. Not like he's not encouraging hard work or training to acquire a skill with which you can provide for yourself. As you heard in last night's speech concerning the mechanic lady that was laid off and went back to acquire some training before being re-employed.

Isn't this what the Republicans are clamoring for? Like Newt said, the two years of unemployment the Dems are implementing is enough time for the unemployed to get an Associate Degree! We need to tie unemployment and welfare checks to conditions that will eventually make the people independent. The Dems do not want this because the more people are dependent on the govt, the brighter their political fortune. This is just not right.

These reforms take time but it seems the repubs are looking for a radical change where you just tell everyone "no more food stamps, go and get a job or starve to death". Obama did not invent welfare programs and contrary to Speaker Gingrich's claim that he has the most people in the history of America living on food stamps, it has been shown that about 500k more people were on food stamps in George Bush's tenure than currently.

The first welfare reform in the history of America was implemented at the direction of Speaker Gingrich. How many people starved to death through that reform? Stop letting the propaganda get to you. In 3 years Obama has put more people on foodstamp than the 8 years of Bush. That is a fact that cannot be disputed. The numbers you may be refering to probably reflects only the first 2 years of Obama and not the current numbers.

@Kay-Dee,

Nobody is taxing the rich or fighting for them to be taxed on capital gains, it is just Mr Buffet who rightly sees it as common sense that he should be paying more tax than his secretary who earns lower than him. The annoying thing is the republicans are fighting for more tax cuts (on earned income) for the rich.

This shows you have no idea what the discussion is all about. Obama and his buddies are keeping this away from people like you who blindly follow them without understanding the issues. Mr Buffet ewarns a yearly salary of $100,000 and gets taxed at the rate of that income bracket. The rest of his income, like Romneys, come from capital gains which is taxed at a much lower rate than earned income. So asking to raise uffet's rate is askinig to raise capital gains tax. What could be more impactful on investment that raising the capital gains tax? If you want Buffet to pay more, ask him to pay himself a higher salary and not game the system through capital gains while appearing sancttimonious.

This is the misconception that makes it look like a class warfare.

If it looks like, moves like and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck!

The rates for the not-so-rich to be reduced ? ? (not possible) then everyone might as well pay nothing in taxes. The deficit has to be serviced with tax money which is more or less a virtually fixed amount some where, this amount is balanced by taxing the rich and the "not-so-rich", so if the rich people pay nothing, it means the "not-so-rich" pay everything and if the rich pay more, then the "not-so-rich" pays less.

This is what you fail to understand. A higher tax rate results in capital flight. Why do you think people are moving their businesses overseas? This is a global economy where capital seeks out investments with limited risk and higher rates of returns. Taxes is regarded as the cost of doing business and investors will look for ways to avoid the cost. When you reduce the tax rate, you have more economic activites which in itself increases government receipt. This is what happend during Reagan's term. He reduced the taxes across board and the govt had more money flowing in.

But what we have here is a case of the rich paying a lot less than the middle class which is wrong.

What they heck are you talking about? Even with the 15% taxes that Romney paid, he probably paid more taxes than a thousand middle classes put together. If you increase the capital gains tax, he will likely take out less money thereby reducing the govt receipt. Taxes are govt instruments for punishing and/or reducing an activity.

@milehigh06,

Yes the social programmes means much to me since i do pay my taxes and social program does not mean just food stamps,health care is involved,affordable schooling is involved and it does not hae to partain to me before i am concerned about it,people pay into their retirements and it should be there for them when they are ready to cash in,that is another form of social program.

How can you call something a social program if you are only getting a return on your investment? Are your returns on your 401K programs, or your tax refund and settlement in the event of an insurance claim social programs? You need a better definition.

Maybe you are not aware of the numerous attempts to make something happen in this economy that have been blocked by the republicans
his job proposal which 70% of people want has been blocked wayyyyy before this election cycle,or you believe the roads and bridges and rail tracks and co do not need fixing?what of a tax system that favors the wealthy,does that not need to be fixed

What programs were blocked by the Republicans? You mean of the $4trillion plus that this guy has spent after 3 years in office, he still had inadequate funds to spend on all the infrastructures you mentioned? They must not be high up on his priority list I will say. Besides, for the first two years of his administration, he had a Democratic led House and Senate that did his bidding all the time. Why blame the Republicans who have only being in power a year?

You obviously don't know anything about the tax system to be saying it only favors the wealthy. First you will need to learn the difference between taxes on earned income and capital gains tax. I personally think it is immoral for the govt to tax you on capital gains. How can you tax my earned income at 35% rate and yet demand same rate from the returns I get from that leftover? The greedy party here is the govt and not the investors. Also, I am appalled by people asking the rich to pay a higher rate instead of asking for the rates of the not-so-rich to be reduced. This action betrays their inner motive to punish the successful.

@Kay-Dee,

That is the republican party not Obama or the democrats: It is the republicans that are striving to cut billions of dollars from public schools and lay off teachers.

So in your opinion, the best way to deal with the education problem is to throw more money at it?  For your information, no one is asking to cut the current budget but a cut in its projected increase. 

Not saying Obama and his policies are perfect but they're far better than the useless agenda of hateful, arrogant and racist republicans.

You mean you prefer a policy that will keep you dependent on handouts to a policy that will make you responsible for yourself and keep the better portion of your hard-earned income without being branded greedy?

By the way, you might be interested in considering Santorium's response in a debate and weigh it agaist the misconception that you have.

Rick Santorum says if Americans do three things they can avoid poverty: work, graduate from high school, and get married before having children.

WILLIAMS: Senator Santorum, the Obama administration has not specifically addressed high levels of joblessness and a 25 percent poverty rate in black America. They say they want to fix the economy for all, but given the crisis situation among a group of historically disadvantaged Americans, do you feel the time has come to take special steps to deal with the extraordinary level of poverty afflicting one race of America?

SANTORUM: It’s very interesting, if you look at a study that was done by the Brookings Institute back in 2009, they determined that if Americans do three things, they can avoid poverty. Three things. Work, graduate from high school, and get married before you have children. Those three things…

(APPLAUSE)

SANTORUM: Those three things, if you do, according to Brookings, results in only 2 percent of people who do all those things ending up in poverty, and 77 percent above the national average in income. It’s a huge, huge opportunity for us.
But what is the Obama administration doing? Elaine Bennett runs a program called Best Friends, the wife of Bill Bennett. And she told me through Bill that the Obama administration now has a policy, and this program is a program targeted at at-risk youth, specifically in many case necessary the African-American community, who are at-risk young girls. The Obama administration now has regulations that tells them that they can no longer promote marriage to these young girls. They can no longer promote marriage as a way of avoiding poverty and bad choices that they make in their life. They can no longer even teach abstinence education. They have to be neutral with respect to how people behave.
The problem is neutrality ends in poverty, neutrality ends in choices that hurt people’s lives. This administration is deliberately telling organizations that are there to help young girls make good choices, not to tell them what the good choice is. That is absolutely unconscionable.
http://nation.foxnews.com/south-carolina-gop-debate/2012/01/16/santorums-answer-poverty-question-hits-bulls-eye

Jona please listen to Obama speeches and how he talked for an hour without reading from a book, Jona learn learn please

This is another eloquent testimony to the utter igorance of his base supporters. Why would Obama or his party strive to have people educated when ignorance is needed to swell the ranks of their core base?

Another "great" speech by the Commander-in-Speech! Na speech we wan chop?

@JeSoul,

Uncle Tayo, Happy New Year sir . Hope body, family & faith are all in excellent condition.

We thank God, we thank God. I trust everything is well in your corner of the world as well.

@topic, if Newt or Romney end up being the candidate, I will be voting for Obama. While Newt may be debating well, I do not find him believable for one second and Romney is simply a shadow playing the role.

Kai, to think you just wished Pre-elect a very conservative year only to turn around and say you will be voting Obama. You asked about my faith earlier, how is yours?!

@dayokanu,

You have not given me any reason why a McCain-Lite (Romney) can beat Obama when Grand daddy McCain could not. How can someone who could not beat McCain beat Obama who beat McCain? It takes standing logic on its head to accept such a conclusion. Despite the flaws of the many candidates he is up against in the primaries, Mitt finds it difficult, if not impossible to win the nomination and you think he stands a chance in the general.

Scott Brown showed us what it takes to win the independent vote - go conservative! It was conservatism and not liberalism that won the House back for the Republicans in the last election. As long as the message is well articulated by someone who has a history of conservatism, you can be sure it will win every time in America.

I dare Obama to mention Newt's association with Fannie and Freddie in a debate. I trust Newt to quickly point out that it was Obama who peddled influence to get a sweet-heart mortgage loan to buy his house. At least Newt offered consultancy services in which he recommended that F&F change course. Obama on the other hand was responsible for using the threat of law suit to compel Banks to make loans to people who cannot afford them. Obama's got a lot of garbage and the attractive thing about Newt is that people know he will not be afraid to point them out, unlike Mitt.

@pres-elect,

I know conventional wisdom dictates that it takes Romney to beat Obama but I disagree.  Tell me, what is the difference between Romney and McCain who lost to Obama 3 years ago? You cannot be more moderate or "sane" as you put it than McCain. Afterall, it was the same argument the same conventional wisdom gave us 3 years ago and it ended up failing.

As for Newt being one of the "crazies", they called Reagan worse because of his stance as a conservative.  Conservatism wins any day and that is what Newt confirmed in the last primaries, all despite his huge flaws.  Romney can neither articulate what he stands for nor express conservatism in an attractive way.  He will surely depress the base and will certainly lose the so-called independent vote to Obama.  I am more convinced of Newt's chances than I am of Mitt.

Lest I forget, Newt's chances of stealing a lot of Democrat's votes is much higher than Mitt's. Afterall, many Dems will mistake Newt for a Democrat going by his history of illicit relationships!

@cap28,

I didn't mention any names, but you can personally appropriate my earlier submission as long as you know it describes to a "T", your modus-operandi.

For your information, I'd estimate that I agree with JeSoul 90% of the time; Negro 50% of the time; and pres-elect 5% of the time. Despite these extreme range of agreement, I find that none of these individuals I mentioned rub off on you negatively. Same cannot be said of the potential poster of the year I mentioned earlier.

@topic,

I can't believe people are actually contemplating rewarding a certain individual with what should be a prestigious award. Rewarding this individual with such an award can be likened to the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize to the war-monger-in-chief, Obama.

No doubt that the activities, demeanour, caustic nature and outright flooding of this forum with wild stories and spam by this individual has led many to limit their activities on this platform. How can you reward such a destructive figure with the poster of the year award?

I will choose one of the following even though they've not been very active recently. JeSoul, pres-elect and/or Negro_Ntns. All three are very engaging, opinionated without being caustic. These are the traits that should mark our poster of the year.

@cap28,

He describes nigerians as idi.ots for tolerating years of abuse from the most ignorant and morally bankrupt govt on the planet. Is he wrong for telling the nigerian masses the truth?

Do you see me argue with the man? He considers himself, his parents and his generations as i.diots and I have no problem with his point of view. Just as the dear Pastor has his opinion, I have mine too. My view is that I do not waste 24 minutes of my life listening to a self-proclaimed i.diot.

The problem with people like you is you are extremely arrogant and judgemental and hate hearing the truth.

This is hilarious. I have not at this time passed any judgement on anyone nor have I summarily compartmentalized millions of people and call them names whole-sale, as our dear Pastor have done. It's also evident that you are a follower of this i.diot-in-chief because you are guilty of the same summary condemnation he is preaching. After all, for you to recognize "people like you" who in your opinion are arrogant and judgmental betrays your affinity to judge others as your i.diotic pastor has done.

@birdman,

Its a good thing you didnt listen to it. That way you wont how realize how idiotic your above post is.

Your response here suggests to me that you are a qualified candidate to watch and listen to the content of the video. Afterall, it takes an i.diot to accept and swallow every word of an admitted i.diot.  No doubt you'd feel at home where i.diocy compounds upon i.diocy.

@topic,

I didn't even bother to watch the clip.  If the content of the video is truly the above caption, then why would I bother listening to a self-admitted i.diot?  Afterall as a Nigerian, he is also being ruled by fools (his words)!!!

@ceejay80s,

My anoyance no be say e post f0olishly but others dey use am as quote,thereby litering this thread and making each page shorter, maggot!

Idio.t! If you are concerned about bandwidth, why don't you just ignore the postings here instead of assuming Seun's headache even though he is not complaining.

@femo86,

@tayo d.Remove that your bible post 4 your signature.We're discussion a serious issue here and u sleep on your mat typing rubbish.SULETAYO

You like to waste your time sha. You stand a better chance of commanding GEJ to remove the subsidy than having me tweak my profile for a low-life like you.  I will not deprive you of the false notion that you give your life some meaning by coming online to discuss a serious issue.  Heck, you have been psychologically depressed by GEJ's actions, I'll do the humane thing and not add to your misery.

ceejay80s,

@tayo shìt, jokes apart, i beta pass u wela,i go feed u even if the strike goes for 1month. U think say dis garri wey u dey drink with fish na food?

Who is joking with this mad man? Abeg, carry your illusions comot for here.  I know better than to take seriously, words of self-promoting nonentities like you.  Do us all a favor and go jump off a bridge.

@Missy_B,

Can someone, please, confirm that this was GEJ's speech. I've only read the first 4 paragraphs and it sounds too ingratiating to be true.

Someone sent me the link saying the strike has been called off.  Just like you, I am skeptical that GEJ planned to make such speech.  Besides, I don't think he has such good speech writers on staff.

@98990,

LOL, YOU WAN TURN JONA TO HERO?

Ad that's the tragedy here.  GEJ can use this opportunity to become a hero of his people.  I hope he has wisdom on his side to do the right thing.  Can you imagine if he does 50% of what this speech claims?

@ceejay80s,

@Tayo D thunder go fire u and badluck jonash1t

I don't know why you are concerning yourself with this subsidy issue. It is apparent that with or without subsidy, you have already made a shipwreck of your life.

@topic,

Please add femo86 to the list of Oshodi Motor Park specimens with access to the world wide web.

@mcfestgee,

I tink no matter what we should respect GEJ if not as a president as an elder. Some of you just speak like those specimen at Oshodi motor park.

Case in point being ceejay80s.

Below is an advanced copy of GEJ's speech tonight.  For those who believe, you will find the link here: [url]http://saharareporters.com/column/president-jonathan’s-last-speech-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo[/url]

I have heard you. Without hesitation, I hereby announce an immediate reversal of the oil subsidy removal.

The debate we’ve had and the energy your actions infused into our political process make me feel so strong about this decision. Living in this bubble called Aso Rock Villa, I often forget that the mandate I have came from the people. I appreciate the stress and hardship you went through to remind me of that very important tenet of our democracy.

On behalf of the nation, I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the demonstrations. Their deaths will not be in vain. In the future, I hope we can find a way to do the right thing without losing the precious life of a single Nigerian.

If I read your message right, my government has not earned your trust. And without trust, we have no moral authority to demand sacrifices from you. More so when we, the government, have not made sacrifices ourselves. I have come to realize that more than everything else, the Nigerian people want accountability from their leaders. It is through the door of accountability that you will open for us the room where your trust resides. You all have taught me that only a foolish man will put his tomorrow in the hands of a man who cannot account for his yesterday.

Even a government with good intentions is not always right. In our haste to implement a policy we felt was essential to our economic well-being, we failed to envision the ramifications of our action. We appeared silly arguing that we did not expect the price of food items to go up because trucks and buses use diesel and not fuel. But the truth, which we should have known, is that once the price of one thing goes up in Nigeria, the prices of other things follow. In fact, prices go up in Nigeria for the mere fact that workers got a pay increase.

Also, our argument that the only way we can control corruption at the downstream sector of our oil industry is by removing the subsidy is like arguing that amputating a leg is the only way we can cure a laceration. With that approach, we will soon end up severed into tiny bits that cannot work together.

At several points in the course of defending our position, we portrayed ourselves as incompetent. We gave the impression that we are incapable of protecting our borders. We gave the impression that we have people in this country who are above the law. We gave the impression that we are more interested in protecting our indulgences while demanding unbearable sacrifices from you all.

I have seen the anger in the hearts of many suffering Nigerians. Your anger is well justified. The anguish of our youths, the despair of the old, can no longer be taken for granted. I fully accept the blame of all that happened. I am not ashamed to say that we did not get it. Our assumptions were wrong. For so long, we looked the other way while millions of you suffer. Until last week, I thought it was enough to promise you that the suffering would be temporary. Now I know it isn’t.

We are going back to the very basic. From your litany of complaints, I understand that at the very core of our problem is that we have not managed the affairs of this nation well in the last 50 years. And I saw in your faces, the determination to change that. In the stomping of your feet, I heard a demand that extended beyond the oil subsidy removal.

I have mapped out a new path. And that is what I plan to explain to you in this speech.

Thanks to you, we are going to fundamentally change our ways. It is no longer going to be business as usual. And to kick it off, I will start with myself. I believe there cannot be accountability without transparency. I have not been transparent. But that ends today.

The law demands that I declare my assets at the beginning of each term. I have not done so before now out of fear that Nigerians may not understand. But the Nigerians I saw in the last one week are people who want the truth more than they expect what is right. I want Nigerians to know that I am worth 50 billion Naira(?). My salary and allowances each year is about N320 million naira. That, my fellow Nigerians, is outrageous in a country where hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens live on less than N320 a day.

To show how serious I am about the changes I want to put in place, I will forgo any salary and allowances for the rest of my term as president. Moving forward, I will pay for the feeding of my family and so will the vice president. I am slashing the budget for feeding at the presidency to N300 million a year and that will be for visiting dignitaries alone. The 25% cut in salary that I announced two weeks ago for staff of the executive branch, I want to increase it to 50% for those making more than N2, 000,000 a month. And it includes cuts to their allowances. I’m also cutting all other expenses in the budget for the presidency by half. That alone will bring in N100 billion Naira back into the treasury. I have ordered the presidential fleet of aircrafts to be reduced to two instead of nine.

We have serious problems in this country and we need to tackle them with all seriousness. Now, I cannot do it alone. I need your help for us to transform this country. I sincerely believe that the lawmakers can live on 50% of their current income. I cannot cut their pay on my own. I need you to put pressure on them to do the right thing. If you have to occupy their offices and their homes, I urge you to do so. The same thing applies to the governors and the local government chairmen. They can live on less. They will not do so unless you push them. There is no reason why a governor should have a private jet in a country like ours where the basic needs of our people are not being met.

We all have known for a very long time that the corruption in our system is so endemic. What we didn’t know, until you all hit the street, is that we have in us the will power to confront corruption. To that end, I am sending a bill tomorrow to the National Assembly abolishing the ICPC and the EFCC. Those two toothless agencies have not lived up to the expectations of the Nigerians I saw on the streets. In place of these two bodies, I am establishing the Nigerian Bureau of Investigation. The new agency will have far reaching powers to investigate and prosecute all crimes committed against the federal government. We will train elite members of the police and prosecutorial staff who are upright and passionate about eradicating corruption in our society.

I believe that corruption is like uncontrolled flood. We are wasting our time paving the roads and coating the surface with bitumen if we have not built formidable drainage system of solid culverts and gutters. That is where we need to begin the enormous works that face us. Once we get the drainage system right, reconstruction of our roads, our educational system, our health sector, our larger society, will be a lot easier.

From your actions in the last one week, I believe that there are still good people in our society. Our job is to create the environment for these good people to come out and serve our country. At this point, I’m announcing the dissolution of my cabinet. Tomorrow, I am sending a bill to the National Assembly asking them to quickly modify the constitution to allow me to trim down the number of federal ministries in Nigeria to twelve. I want to merge various ministries that duplicate their works and thereby trim down the federal workforce by at least half. I want the freedom to appoint credible men and women to serve our country irrespective of their region, ethnicity and religion.

I am also sending a bill to the National Assembly creating state police in Nigeria. I want every state government to be responsible for security of lives and property in their state. And with more responsibility comes greater accountability. States that fail to provide security will be held liable for lives and property of its citizens. The federal government cannot do it alone. Government is more effective when it is closer to the people.

The seriousness of what we face in this country requires that you all stay on the street and apply pressure until the people constitutionally charged with making laws make the right laws that will transform our country. And you need to be vigilant to ensure that the laws are implemented.

Thank you all for reminding me that the possibilities out there for Nigeria are unlimited, for ours is a blessed land. Yesterday may have been bad but tomorrow, with your continuing push, will be glorious.

From the very beginning, I was talking about transformational presidency but it was when you got into the street that I actually knew what I meant. When the overburdened mass of our people lead, I, the president, have no option but to follow. Your resilient is a source of inspiration to me. With your help, we will transform this country to one that we all shall be proud of. If I have to join you in the street, I will. I am your leader and I will follow you.

This journey is not going to be easy. There would be entrenched interests that will come out swinging and hoping to crush what you have set in motion. I believe that together we can take them on and push them off the space of this beautiful country of ours which they have, for too long, dominated and occupied for their selfish ends. The inner strength of the Nigerians that I see in the last week will lead us through.

The journey to a new Nigeria starts now – a Nigeria revived by the people and for the people. This journey continues until we remove misery and restore dignity to the lives of every man and woman in our country.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

@topic,

I have relatives who are planning to travel to the US this weekend. One of them could not even make it to Lagos when she tried two days ago. According to her, there were miscreants all over the place blocking the major highways and extorting people who try to use the road. After exhausting all the money on her, she had to turn back and face similar situations again on her way back home. At this point, I don't know if she can travel as planned.

Why should you impede people's right to live their lives simply becuase you are able to exercise your right to demonstrate? How are these people different from the government they are demonstrating against? As far as I am concerned, all parties are guilty of trampling on the constituional rights of law-abiding citizens.

@topic,

So in these days of Boko Haram and such vermins, has anyone been designing blast resistant structures?

@topic,

I was in Naija this year and went by this area when it was under construction. What struck me most was the fact that the shopping mall is going to add to the traffci congestion in this area. Did anyone do a traffic flow analysis to ensure this area does not become a parking ramp for cars that should be moving?

While the development of such infrastructure is laudable, it bothers me that we do not plan to develop surrounding infrastructure to cater for the incidental increase in demand.

@topic,

I learnt Prophet T.B Joshua gave him N100,000 to set up himself

Should that read "to set himself up?" This has "set up" written all over it.

@Pres-elect,

Why d'you make such an assumption? You're confusing me with tayo D who stands by any republican just to massage his misguided dislike of Obama.

Here you go again looking for trouble. Wetin concern me with your wahala at this point? Anyway, you are wrong on two points. First, I do not stand by any republican and two, my dislike of Obama is not misguided.

Newt and other republicans are a bunch of hypocrites. I'm shocked the evangelical holy men of GOP in Iowa are ready to endorse that liar.

The problem that Newt and co have is their Clintonian tendencies. The only difference is that Clinton had no problem lying under oath in his quest to hide what everyone knew was true. At least, Newt owns up to his shortcomings. By biblical principle, we forgive those who confess and forsake their wrong ways. You democrats revel in your bad behavior. Go figure!

oops

@topic,

I like the popular saying here in the US about guns.  "It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Needless to say I am in support of Nigerians having the right to bear arms.  

There is no need to fear that Nigerians will turn on each other if we are allowed to carry guns.  The truth is that the gun crimes in Naija today are committed mostly, if not entirely by criminals who will never meet the minimum state requirements to carry guns anyway.  The status quo therefore puts law-abiding citizens at a disadvantage because whether they are armed or not, the criminals will always be armed.  This again is consistent with the saying that "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns."

For those implying that the US is not safe because of the gun laws, or rather lack of gun laws, they cannot be further from the truth.  I live in the US where any law abiding citizen can legally own a gun, and they usually do.  Despite the fact that I do not own a gun (because my wife doesn't want it in the house), I feel safer in the US than I do in Naija where it is almost impossible to legally own firearm.  Of what use then is the strict gun control?

Besides, less than 1% of gun crimes are committed by those who legally possess firearms.  This at least, is what is revealed in the data for Texas. In 2009, of he total 65,561 gun crimes committed in Texas, only 101 is by concealed handgun license (CHL) holders. In 2008, only 86 CHL holders were convicted of gun crimes compared with the total 65,084.  These represent less that 0.2% in both years.  url]http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17975[/url]

I downloaded the relevant spreadsheet which is attached.

@Estiimable,

I will advise you take down your email address as soon as you confirm that yusufu16 has copied it. The same goes for anyone who does not want to be bombarded by spam emails. I once gave out my email address on nairaland. Needless to say, I abandoned that email address because of spammers.

@topic,

The below are general skills and abilities that ABET requires of every engineering graduate:

1. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering
2. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
3. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs
4. An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
5. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problem
6. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
7. An ability to communicate effectively
8. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context.
9. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, lifelong learning
10. A knowledge of contemporary issues
11. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

The Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century added four outcomes to the eleven by ABET. These are:

1. an ability to apply knowledge in a specialized area related to civil engineering
2. an understanding of the elements of project management, construction, and asset management
3. an understanding of business and public policy and administration fundamentals
4. an understanding of the role of the leader and leadership principles and attitudes

Does anyone notice anything curious about the four listed outcomes above?

@mukina2,

I am new to this forum but won't mind moderating it. I think I can easily meet all the basic requirements.

The foreign politics section is getting boring by the day . This section should be more intellectually stimulating.

@rasputinn,

I will like to discuss with you on ways we can take position in order to play in the expected deregulated power generation and distribution market,I pray the president delivers on that pledge so another massive vista of opportunities will be unleashed

No doubt a deregulation of the sector to allow the injection of private capital and innovation will create countless opportunities.  We are looking at not only a bunch of developmental work that will dwarf that of the telcos in scale, but an unleashing of the economy thorugh the availablitity of uninterrrupted power supply.

I have always kept the option open to help out and take advantage of the opportunities that might be available in Naija.  I will however do so to the extent that I retain my peace of mind and professional integrity.  The little enquiries that I have made suggest that I sell my soul for a piece of bread.  That is not going to happen.

That being said, I am open to hear what you have to say and can get in touch with you outside this forum for that purpose. 

I see you have roots in the telecomms industry, which I am also passionate about.  So which of the companies do you work for?